Everyone Has a Soft Side
by kittycow
Summary: Armin gets hurt after a mission, but refuses to have anyone make a fuss over his injuries until Levi is the one to bandage him up himself.


"Are you sure you're fine?" Eren asked, voice glazed with concern, as he stared down into Armin's eyes, searching any doubt that the blonde wasn't showing. He cared for him like a brother, always wanting the best for Armin no matter the sacrifice. Since they were kids, Eren always looked out for him when he was weak and vulnerable, but now that he was stronger, he didn't want Eren to worry about him. He could take care of himself. After years of just slowing his friend down due to his lack of physical strength, he wanted to prove to Eren he could take care of himself.

"I'll be fine." Armin mumbled, giving a soft smile up at the concerned burnette, who returned it.

"Okay. Just making sure. That looked like a nasty fall." With a ruffle to his silky blond locks, Eren left to change out of his gear and try to relax a bit. The mission was tough, but they managed with few casualties, much to everyone's relief. Or at least... almost everyone.

Once Eren was out of sight, Armin let go of the act and winced at the sharp pain throbbing at his wrist. He could handle it. It was nothing. He needed to be strong. He couldn't let Eren always worry about him. Biting down carefully at his bottom lip, he slowly pulled back his sleeve to get a better look at his injury. It was bruised, but definitely not broken. Maybe just a minor sprain that would heal within a few days. He hoped.

"Hey. Go to nurse to have that checked out."

Armin's eyes snapped up to the doorway, seeing a pair of uninterested, dull grey eyes staring at him.

"N-no, corporal. It's fine. Doesn't even hurt…" the blonde murmured as he pushed his sleeve back down, unable to look Levi in the eyes. "It'll be fine by tomorrow. Don't worry." Footsteps drew near him until a pair of brown boots were in his line of a vision.

"Give me your hand." Levi said sternly as he held out his.

Hesitantly, Armin obeyed and placed his hand on the corporal's. His sleeve was pushed back up, exposing his injury. He sucked in a sharp breath as a finger was placed gingerly on his bruised skin.

"See? You're not okay." Levi muttered as he let Armin withdraw his hand, hiding his wrist once again. "Go see the nurse and get patched up. Stop being so stubborn."

"I just don't want people to worry about me…" he whispered as he stared at his boot, swinging it gently as it hovered above the ground from his spot on his bed. A soft sigh was heard in front of him.

"People are going to worry about you if you don't get that treated. It's not possible to completely take care of yourself. There are going to be some things you need other people to do for you, even if it worries someone close to you. In the long run, it's better to have them worry a little bit while the injury is easy to heal, rather than wait and have them worry even more at the nasty, untreatable affliction."

Armin stayed silent.

"Wait here."

The words caused the blonde to look up, not because of what the words were, but how they were said. They were… gentle sounding. Much more gentle than the usual stern voice Corporal Levi had. It almost made Armin think that his hearing was damaged as well. As Levi left the room, he couldn't help but to wonder if Levi has a softer side to him, and if so, what kind of person was he really was past the blank expression he always wore. He was sincerely curious as he found himself thinking about what it would look like if the corporal smiled, or how his laugh sounded, or even how caring he could be underneath his nature that seemingly pushed everyone away.

Levi returned with a medical box in his hand, and as he approached, Armin tried to picture a smile on his face. It was hard to, and he just couldn't get the image to surface from the serious look cemented on his face.

"Hand." the corporal commanded, his voice back to it's usual deep, flat voice.

Maybe he was just hearing things, Armin couldn't help but to think as he placed his hand back onto Levi's. The superior studied the injury, looking it over carefully.

"Can you move it?"

"A bit…"

"It's just a sprain." Levi assured as he pulled out a bandage and tenderly started to wrap it around his wrist.

Armin grimaced, making a soft whining noise as the bandage was being pulled tight.

"Sorry… I'm trying to be gentle."

There it was again. That soft voice, making Armin look up at the corporal, blue eyes full of curiosity. Levi was oblivious to it as he focused his attention on what he was doing. Once Armin was all wrapped up, it was then he saw the look the blonde was giving him, but he chose to ignore it.

"Any other injuries you're trying to hide?" Again, his voice was soft.

"I might have… I think I scraped my back." Armin mumbled. Levi's hands slowly went to the straps on his chest, making his heart beat quicken its pace as small, nimble fingers undid the buckle there. The harness was pushed back slowly and carefully, being left to gather around his waist. The blush on Armin's face was a deep pink hue, seeming to make his face glow as he found his shirt being lifted. Sure enough, there was a small amount of blood soaked into the back of it, somehow making it past Eren's concerned eyes.

Armin shiver slightly, being without a shirt and his superior's eyes on him, looking him up and down for any cuts or bruises. He couldn't help but to feel a little uneasy about this. His body wasn't as well defined and muscular as everyone else's were, making him feel a little self conscious. Now, under the eyes of humanity's strongest, he couldn't help but to feel more self conscious. He wanted to hide, and would have if it weren't for the soft kiss he felt against the bruise on his shoulder. The lips were soft and didn't hurt being pressed against his damaged skin.

"S-sir?" Armin stuttered as he looked over his shoulder at Levi, the older man somehow managed to sneak behind his back without him realizing it. His expression was soft, and serene, eyes no longer in that bored expression he always wore.

"I thought, from that fall…" Levi's voice was no louder than a whisper. Armin could feel his warm breath against his bare skin before another kiss was placed over another bruise, on his side. "You scared me…"

"C-corporal I… I'm alright." Armin managed out, his voice sounding weak as he gave a soft smile.

He would have to say, Levi looked much more attractive without that bored expression that seemed to be plastered to his face. It made him seem younger, almost like teenager. It wasn't to say that he looked old in the first place; he looked much younger than he was for his age, with a soft, calm look on his face. It made Armin's heart skip a beat, knowing that the man he was looking at was somewhere in his late twenties, early thirties. With skin that smooth, pale, and flawless, it really made him reconsider if the man right here was really that old.

Kisses were placed on every bruise and cut visible, as Levi whispered comforting words. Armin sat there, face flushed and heart beating fast, as he listened and felt each word, kiss and ginger touch. His skin tingled in the wake of the corporal's finger as it slowly traced over a scar down his back.

"Every scar has a story." Levi murmured behind him as a kiss was pressed somewhere in the middle of the permanent, long pink mark. "Tell me?"

It wasn't an order from his superior. It was a curious question that he could chose to answer or not.

"Sure, um… let's see…" Armin mumbled before he felt something warm and wet, tracing over the scar. "S-sir? What are you doing?"

"Your skin is too beautiful for such an imperfection." Levi murmured against his back. It sent a shudder down his spine, the feeling. "Tell me."

"When I was much younger, before the fall of Maria, I lived in Shinganshina. There was this group of teenagers that would beat on me, simply because I could prove them wrong to everything they said. I probably should have just kept my mouth shut, but I couldn't. Before I knew it, I was thrown into the river and sharp rock cut my back. That's where the scar came from. I thought I was going to die. I couldn't breath or move… until someone took hold of my hand and pulled me to the surface. It was Eren. And he fought against the teenagers that threw me in. There were three of them, but he kept at it, even when they were obviously winning. All I could do was watch as I tried to catch my breath. Then Mikasa showed up and saved us both."

Levi listened carefully to the story as he continued to trace his pointer finger along the scar. Armin snuck a peek back at him, seeing how deep in thought he seemed to be. Grey eyes looked up into his, so soft and gently. Before he knew it, their faces were coming closer and lips brushed over his, capturing them in a passionate kiss. It didn't last very long, but it happened, and Armin couldn't be happier as he smiled at Levi.

Part of him expected the smile to be returned, but he also knew that the corporal wasn't one to smile. Still, he couldn't help the pang of sadness that shallowly struck his heart as Levi looked away, finally focusing on the bleeding scrape on his back. As it was being cleaned with disinfectant, Armin winced slightly at the sting, earning soft whispers of comfort. Once bandaged, Levi handed him his shirt and Armin quietly slipped it back on.

"Don't worry Eren more than you should when you get injured." Levi said, back to his stern tone and bored looking expression as he placed everything back into the medical box. He stood and walked towards the door, grabbing the handle before turning around to look back at Armin one last time. "Don't worry me, either." and with that, the corporal walked out, leaving Armin with his skin still tingling from Levi's gentle touch.


End file.
